by James hmv London, 31/12/2014Bio"Like the legend of the Phoenix, I've just eaten a whole packet of chocolate HobNobs..."
Editor, hmv.com

hmv.com Presents... 2014's Biggest Hits: Feature Films

As 2014 winds to a close we bring you a round-up of the year's most popular purchases, as bought by you from hmv stores across the UK. To kick off, here are the Top 10 feature films you wanted to buy this year...

10. The Wolf of Wall Street

One of our favourite films to find its way onto our shelves in 2014 was also one of the most popular with audiences, just edging into the top 10 of our bestsellers this year. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort and based on the real-life exploits of one of Wall Street's most infamous traders, Martin Scorsese's film is an absolute riot thanks to some excellent performances from its talented cast, particularly Jonah Hill, who almost steals the show as Belfort's unhinged business partner Donnie Azoff. This is hands down the funniest film Scorsese has made in years.

9. Gravity

2014 was a year in which Hollywood rekindled its love affair with space, with both this and Interstellar being huge box office hits, but with the latter not arriving in the home cinema market until the Spring, it's just Alfonso Cuarón's taut thriller that finds itself on our list of bestsellers. Winning a host of awards including Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Editing, Cuarón's tale of a shuttle repair mission in jeopardy starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney is rightly one of the most popular films of the year.

8. X-Men: Days of Future Past

After a mixed response to Brett Ratner's 2006 instalment in the X-Men franchise and a slight detour in the form of Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class, most fans and critics agreed that Bryan Singer's return to the director's chair for X-Men: Days of Future Past was a triumphant one, a fact reflected in its position at No. 8 on our list of the year's most popular DVDs. With Singer already signed on to direct the next in the series and X-Men: Apocalypse slated for a 2016 release, the future of the franchise looks to be in secure hands.

7. Hunger Games: Catching Fire

With the immense popularity of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy it is perhaps no surprise to see the films doing so well, and this year the second of the films to be released for home cinema picked up where the first instalment left off, shipping over 4m copies in its first two weeks alone and firing straight into No.7 on our bestsellers list. With Mockingjay also smashing it at cinemas towards the end of 2014, we fully expect to find the next instalment on this list next year too.

6. The Hobbit : The Desolation of Smaug

Peter Jackson finally saw off the last of his epic Tolkien series this year when the third part of his Hobbit trilogy finally arrived in cinemas this December, and while the director can be forgiven for saying that he won't be doing any more films set in Middle Earth, fans of the series clearly still have an appetite for the films, propelling the second part of The Hobbit to No.6 on our list. Again, we would be very surprised if the third and final instalment, Battle of the Five Armies, doesn't appear on 2015's list of bestsellers, but the big question is what Peter Jackson will do next?

5. Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie

Love it or loathe it, Brendan O'Carroll's cross-dressing comic creation is undeniably popular and when he decided it was time for Mrs Brown to make the jump to the big screen, many wondered if it would be a step too far. If the numbers are anything to go by, O'Carroll was right to gamble and his legion of devoted fans helped put the Irish star's feature-length outing at No.5 on this year's bestseller list.

4. Inbetweeners 2

Preceded by one of the best teaser trailers we've seen all year, August 2014 saw the release of this comedy sequel, based on the popular series featuring the school-days exploits of Will (Simon Bird), Jay (James Buckley), Neil (Blake Harrison) and Simon (Joe Thomas). Although the boys have stated that this is to be the last time they all appear on screen together in these roles, that did nothing to halt sales of the new film, which rockets to No.4 on our list.

3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

There have been so many remakes and reboots since Franklin J. Schaffner's 1968 classic starring Charlton Heston that the chronology can be difficult to follow, but while some of the films in the franchise have been met with indifference by audiences and critics alike, this year's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, directed by Matt Reeves and starring Gary Oldman, Andy Serkis and Keri Russell, was a huge hit with fans of the series and finds itself in our top 3 bestsellers for 2014.

2. Guardians of the Galaxy

It's often the case that trailers don't do the films they are promoting justice, and when teasers first started appearing for Guardians of the Galaxy, many fans of the Marvel Universe feared the worst: had they gone too far down the comedy avenue to make this film work?Fortunately, the film was a hit thanks to some brilliant writing and some great performances, with Chris Pratt earning particular praise from fans and critics for his winning role in the new film, and Guardians of the Galaxy won big at the box office too, becoming the second highest grossing film of 2014 at the box office (behind Transformers: Age of Extinction) and repeating that feat here, landing at No.2 on our list of best-selling feature films. Only one film stood in its way...

1. Frozen

There are any number of adjectives we could throw at you to describe the success of Frozen – 'behemoth', 'juggernaut' and 'all-conquering' spring to mind – but put simply, the film you all wanted to grab from our shelves in 2014 more than any other was Disney's animated reworking of classic Hans Christian Anderson's tale The Snow Queen. Featuring the vocal talents of Kristen Bell and Idrina Menzel, this sing-along animated cracker is an instant classic, joining the list of animated Disney hits that now numbers an incredible 53 films. Sure, sure, you bought it for the kids, we know... but don't act like you didn't enjoy it.